In Ping An, when encountering difficulties and thorny situations, there are always the general manager, co-CEO and CEO of Ping An Group by the side of Ma Mingzhe, the founder of Ping An and chairman of Ping An Group.Ping An BankThe figure of Chairman Xie Yonglin. He speaks with a slight Hubei accent, but his tone is firm, crisp and clear, and his analysis always hits the nail on the head.More importantly, in a comprehensive financial group like Ping An, from the grassroots to the high-level, from the front to the back, frominsurance、securitiesarriveBankXie Yonglin’s practical experience has made him familiar with Ping An development and business “playing methods”.
2022 will be a pivotal year for Ping An. The comprehensive life insurance reform in 2020 will usher in the effect release period and inspection period at the three-year time point; at the end of 2016Ping An BankFully launch retail transformation, ininterest rateThe second five-year period under the marketization and normalization of the epidemic situation is expected to bring businesses under many pressures to a higher level. In the capital market, due to the influence of multiple factors, Ping An’s stock price has been dropping all the way, making the market call for confidence and “cherishing”; From comprehensive finance to the strategic upgrade of “comprehensive finance + healthcare”, Ping An has continued to innovate.
It can be said that from a multi-dimensional perspective, 2022 is a critical year for Ping An to seek value upgrades and advanced growth. Recently, a reporter from the Financial Associated Press interviewed the general manager and co-CEO of Ping An Group,Ping An BankChairman Xie Yonglin, listen to this reform “doer” who is “steady and ruthless”, dares to bite hard bones, and has a strong ability to withstand pressure, how he views Ping An’s “climbing and overcoming obstacles” in 2022.
How do you view the current situation and future of Ping An?
Xie Yonglin: Difficulty but more confident that the advantage of comprehensive finance is that “the east does not shine and the west shines”
existPing AnAfter the 2021 “transcript” is released,performanceAt the press conference, Ping An’s management unanimously expressed confidence in China’s long-term economic fundamentals and confidence in Ping An’s reform, innovation, exploration and development. “Full of confidence, firm and optimistic, and I hope the market will give us patience and time.”
Talking about Ping An’s status quo and performance, Xie Yonglin told a reporter from the Financial Associated Press that it is recommended that the market look at it comprehensively. “In Ping An’s comprehensive financial business, except that life insurance is currently facing some difficulties and is undergoing in-depth adjustments, but it also shows the effect of positive reform and transformation, other businesses of Ping An Group can be said to have performed very well.”
For example, Xie Yonglin said that in Ping An’s core financial business, Ping An Property & Casualty’s underwriting profit increased by 145.7% year-on-year to 5.136 billion yuan;BankaccomplishOperating income169.383 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.3%,net profit36.336 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 25.6%; Ping AnsecuritiesThe asset management business consisting of Ping An Trust, Ping An Financial Leasing and Ping An Asset Management will achieve a net profit of 13.952 billion yuan in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 13.5%.
“What does this mean? The advantages of Ping An’s integrated finance are that it resists cyclical risks and has multiple pillars of revenue to support it.
“I am also firmly optimistic about the future.” Xie Yonglin gave four reasons: First, Ping An’s development strategy is clear and clear, the two-wheel drive of “comprehensive finance + healthcare”, the advantages of comprehensive finance, and the support of “healthy China” and “active” The ecological layout of the national strategy to deal with population aging has broad prospects; second, integrated finance is Ping An’s main source of income, and the ability of multiple businesses to resist risks in a single industry is very strong, which is guaranteed; third, the results of life insurance reform It is gradually emerging, and from the perspective of development space, some institutions have pointed out that the scale of life insurance premiums in my country is expected to reach 45 trillion in 2050, and the market space has huge potential; the fourth is to look at the team, the best mechanism is Ping An and the best talents In Ping An, the best management is in Ping An. “I am very confident in the future of Ping An!”
How to read Ping An’s stock price? Can you give investors some confidence?
Xie Yonglin: If you work hard to make the business momentum, the stock price will gradually reflect the true value of Ping An!
Different from talking about business development, when it comes to stock price, Xie Yonglin is a lot more cautious, but still firm.
“From an external point of view, since last year, due to the repeated epidemics, market fluctuations, geopolitics and other risks, the decline in Ping An’s stock price has been separated from the company’s actual value growth.” Xie Yonglin told the Cai Associated Press that what Ping An can do is to be down-to-earth. Do things practically, “make the business, make the momentum of business development, and overcome the difficulties. I believe that the stock price will gradually reflect the true value of Ping An.”
Xie Yonglin also gave investors confidence from the side. “A key piece of data, Ping AnDividend. Xie Yonglin said that over the past ten years, Ping An has maintained a high level of dividends, and the continuous increase in dividends is a steady return to investors. The annual report data shows that,Ping AnIt is proposed to pay a final dividend of RMB 1.50 per share in cash in 2021.The annual dividend was RMB 2.38 per share in cash, a year-on-year increase of 8.2%; the cash dividend ratio calculated based on the operating profit attributable to the parent (excluding therepo) was 29.2%; the compound annual growth rate of total cash dividends in the past five years was 25.8%.
“Another important action is the repurchase.” Xie Yonglin said that the repurchase itself represents confidence and enhances the market’s confidence in Ping An. The latest annual report shows that as of the end of 2021, Ping An accumulatively repurchased shares amounting to 3.900 billion yuan. “In 2022, Ping An will continue to execute repurchases to enhance market confidence. At the same time, Ping An’s management does not rule out that it will continue to increase its holdings at the right time.”
How to see the deepening of financial business synergy? Can growth be stepped up?
Xie Yonglin: Standing at the height of comprehensive finance, it is clear what the final problem of financial sales is to solve! Promote the full implementation of the big wealth management strategy.
Xie Yonglin sees problems, and a lot of financialexecutiveThey are all different, which may be related to their cross-practice experience in integrated finance.
From joining Ping An in 1994, he tried his best to sell the first policy, and then went through the transformation of property insurance to life insurance to broaden his career path and participated in the “Excellent Project” life insurance reform;BankM&ALater, he was ordered to take over Ping Ansecurities, strike hard to rectify the chaos, reshape the securities business and advantages; and then return to the helm of Ping An Bank.Xie Yonglin’s footprints, in Ping’aninsuranceThere are deep traces in the three major financial industries of China, banking and securities.
standDiversified FinanceFrom the perspective of business collaboration, Xie Yonglin said that he has always been thinking about a problem, that is, what problem should financial institutions ultimately solve when selling financial products? Xie Yonglin used his own real experience as an example. “Once, I was in urgent need of liquidity, but I couldn’t get any money out of my account. The reason was that all my assets were allocated into illiquid financial products at that time. What does this mean? It means that the wealth allocation is unhealthy.”
So, what problem does financial sales ultimately solve? Xie Yonglin firmly said that it is wealth allocation!by configurationDiversified FinanceProducts make wealth healthier!
This is what Xie Yonglin is leading Ping An Bank to do: relying on the comprehensive financial advantages of Ping An Group, within Ping An Bank, explore to build a “high-quality, high-capacity, high-income” team.insuranceThe wealth management team is actively developing a new track for the sustainable growth of private banking and wealth management business. “This is not a whim. Doing it now can be said to be at the right time and a matter of course.”
Xie Yonglin analyzed that China’s life insurance industry is facing a series of challenges, and similarly, the wealth management of banks is also facing many challenges. If you want to break the game, you need three major driving forces: first, a steady stream of customers who migrate upwards; second, basic capabilities such as products, allocation, investment consulting, and technology in the wealth management platform of financial institutions; third, a team composed of “capable people” “A sufficient number of teams.
Conversely, what are the advantages of banks doing wealth management?In Xie Yonglin’s view, the first is the account advantage. Massive accounts mean thatMassive Dataaccording to the data to accurately analyze customer needs, it has become the natural advantage of the bank; the second is the advantage of customer resources, the bank has 120 million existing customers, which means that the team has sustainable and developable customer resources; the third is the technological advantage, in the process of digital transformation , the bank has accumulated obvious scientific and technological strength, can contact customers prospectively, acquire and activate customers at low cost; fourth, comprehensive financial advantages, for example, a trust product for family wealth launched by Ping An Bank, which integrates “insurance + The three advantages of “bank + trust” can preserve and increase the value of assets, protect risks, and inherit wealth; the fourth is the advantage of “comprehensive finance + medical health”, medical and health care is a rigid demand for bank customers, providing wealth management services and providing medical care Health services are in the same line, which will further enhance the stickiness of bank customers.
Thinking over and over again, verifying that it is feasible, and doing what is said, Xie Yonglin said that thanks to his “ruthless” strength, Ping An’s new bancassurance has achieved outstanding results, and has become a “top soldier” to help Ping An Life Insurance reform. The data shows that when the new business value growth of Ping An Life’s individual insurance channel will be under pressure in 2021, this indicator of the bancassurance channel will grow strongly. Entering 2022, the advantages of the new bancassurance team are even more prominent. “The production capacity of the new bancassurance team is twice that of the traditional team! During this year’s good start, the middle income of bancassurance increased by 30% year-on-year.” Xie Yonglin said with a smile, in his tone With a sense of pride, “With the advantages of the wealth management team of New Bancassurance, I believe that Ping An Bank’s intermediate income will continue to rise, and it will also help the Group’s new business value continue to rise, and this win-win synergy will become more and more. obvious.”
Are you stressed? how to respond?
Xie Yonglin: There is a lot of pressure, but it must be faced and solved. Quick response is the key to dealing with it.
Looking forward to 2022, the world is still shrouded in the shadow of repeated new crown pneumonia epidemics, and the external environment is increasingly complex and full of uncertainty. In his speech in the annual report, Ma Mingzhe also clearly pointed out that the challenges facing Ping An are still severe, and the task of reform and innovation is very arduous.
Are you stressed? Xie Yonglin said frankly, “In the process of operation and management, we face a lot of pressure, but we must face it and solve it. This is something that bank practitioners and financial practitioners have to face every day.”
But Xie Yonglin also has his own solution – “agile response”. Xie Yonglin’s emphasis on agility is also reflected in Ping An Bank’s latest annual report. In the 2021 annual report of Ping An Bank, the word “agile” appears 21 times: technology empowers continuous improvement of agile capabilities, fosters agile culture, builds agile teams, Agile risk control, enhancement of agile configuration capabilities, agile transformation…
In Xie Yonglin’s view, it is the internal agility genes that consolidate the “chassis” of Ping An Bank’s high revenue and profit growth.
“In 2022, Ping An Bank will have a solid development foundation, strong development momentum, a clear business model upgrade strategy, and focus on implementation.” Xie Yonglin said that the second curve of Ping An Bank’s business growth has been gradually implemented. Law” has been very clear. In his view, Ping An Bank’s consumer finance side and private wealth management side will usher in rapid development. “But pay attention to one point. In consumer finance, risk management is the first priority. It is better to be slow than to take risks!” For this, it happens that the agility also gives Ping An Bank the ability to manage risks.
Being able to withstand pressure is the evaluation of Xie Yonglin by insiders of Ping An, as well as Xie Yonglin’s evaluation of himself. Now it seems that agility, so to speak, is one of Xie Yonglin’s key weapons to resist and decompress.
(Article source: Financial Associated Press)